Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
On Tuesday evening, the Food and Drug Administration released a blistering warning letter accusing billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong of making “false” and “misleading” claims about his biotech company’s new cancer drug, Anktiva. During a recent appearance on “The Sean Spicer Show,” the red-pilled Los Angeles Times owner described his company’s drug as “the most important molecule that could cure cancer” and claimed “it actually can treat all cancers.” He later went even further, stating: “We have the therapy to prevent cancer if you were exposed to radiation, and that’s Anktiva.”
In a letter to Richard Adcock, ImmunityBio’s chief executive, the FDA said Soon-Shiong’s claims, along with other company promotional materials, violated federal drug regulations, giving ImmunityBio 15 days to respond and correct the flagged issues. After the letter was made public, shares of Soon-Shiong’s ImmunityBio collapsed more than 21% by market close. But the FDA scrutiny isn’t solely an issue for Soon-Shiong’s biotech venture. In recent months, Soon-Shiong has used the Times’ branding and resources to push the drug and the biotech company. In fact, Status found that Soon-Shiong appeared to make similar, though less explicit, claims—that Anktiva can treat other cancers—in a video produced by LA Times Studios and posted to the company’s official YouTube channel.
A spokesperson for the Times did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did the FDA.
But inside the Times, the overlap between Soon-Shiong’s business interests and the paper’s journalistic reputation…
The rest of this story is for paid subscribers only.
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
Scoop-driven reporting and sharp-edged analysis. See why The Wall Street Journal declared Status a “must-read.”
CNN chief executive Mark Thompson. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery)
Status Scoop | Thompson’s Paramount Pressure: CNN chief Mark Thompson met in person Wednesday with London-based staff for an extensive 70-minute conversation, Status has learned, where we are told several anchors and on-air journalists hammered him…
The remainder of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only.
Scoop-driven reporting and sharp-edged analysis. See why thousands of industry professionals rely on Status.
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
A subscription gets you full access to our nightly newsletter, which includes:
✅ Essential reporting on and analysis of the Fourth Estate, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Information Wars, and more.
✅ Hand-curated links to the most consequential stories moving the needle in the key corridors of the industry.
✅ Unlimited access to our online archive where you can read previous editions of the newsletter.
